If anyone placed a bet that Sallie Clark would stop being involved in the Westside after being becoming a county commissioner
last January, that person would be shy a few bucks right now. The Westside businesswoman who led the fight to save Fire
Station 3, then became president of the Organization of Westside Neighbors (OWN), then won the District 3 seat on City
Council, then (after a failed run for mayor) got elected commissioner, is somehow finding time to work as hard as ever to bolster
her side of town. The latest proof is the Westside Spirit Awards, which she organized for OWN.
What a great idea that was, and how neatly it was carried out - from the "celebrity" judges (three council members and the
president of the Council of Neighbors and Organizations) to the presentations themselves at the Nov. 17 meeting, handled in a
way that slighted none of the 27 nominees.
Best of all, the commissioner emphasized that this was just the "first annual" Spirit Awards, and that she plans to bring it back
next year, bigger and better. The prospect is most promising. As a general rule, when people fix up their properties, paying big
bucks and enduring contractor headaches, they expect nothing back but the satisfaction of work well done. Now they'll get
recognized for it. Maybe that will encourage more such efforts. And how about those historically appreciative architects, Larry
Gilland and Rand Stockton? With the "new Victorians" they've been designing on the Westside, the classic look and feel of this
side of town may not be as endangered as was once thought. No doubt, they'll be recognized by Sallie again next year. Of
course, who knows, she may have risen to a yet higher office by then. But somehow I think, even if that were to happen, this
dyed-in-the-wool Westsider would still find a way to bring us that second annual.